Media transparency and integrity. Is news reporting based on objectivity or innuendo?

By: Candace Williams original post: August 11, 2009

Reporting by opinion and innuendo. This appears to be the order of the news business these days. We've come a long way from the time of real news reporting, as I think back fondly of the Bob Woodward era. It seems that the present-day media has strayed from reporting facts, pandering to ratings and news-breaking deadlines. Where is the justice in using the news media to exploit one's own ambition or agenda?

Whether or not we want to admit it as readers of news, one has to consider the thought or lack of thought behind the words of the person who wrote it and his/her supporting news agencies' views as well.

However, we also have to consider human nature. Different people at the exact same event can yield two entirely contradictory opinions of the facts. That is just one way that the news can be inaccurate. Personal experiences in our lives and our individual perspectives will create an innate bias. For example, if two people were shot in broad daylight by a gunman, then it is a fact that there were two and not three or four victims, yet the details of the occurrence might vary from one witness to the next, though they each saw the same exact incident.

It seems that even direct quotes cannot be assumed as “fact” if a writer uses the quote out of context or sets up the quote with a contradictory statement.

Accurate and responsible research is also a part of fair journalism. I recently came across an article that, upon reading, I noticed had a fact wrong right off the bat. This is what inspired me to write this article. I decided to research deeper into this article to investigate how news journalism can be flawed. The article that I refer to is indeed a main stream news article. The shame is that after I did my research examining the article, I found it to be flawed in so many ways that I couldn't help but ask if this was pure laziness or if the writer was supporting an agenda.

I took the article line by line to test the accuracy of the statements. What I found was an alarming realization, I could either discount, disprove or impeach almost all of the statements in the article. In fact, if I were editing this article, I would have to strike 80% of it, just out of sheer integrity of journalistic professionalism.

The story caught my eye initially because it reported that the British had assumed control of the Turks and Caicos Islands. After I read it, I screeched to a stop and I asked myself, "really?" I started to look up world news and I couldn't find anything in the news about British rule in Turks and Caicos other than wide-spread rumors. But a take-over had not occurred and certainly not as of when the article was written, on August 7. I was dumbfounded as to why a reporter would report that as news. That is quite a big deal. I was offended and taken aback as a reader when I learned that this was false.

I decided to look at this article to see what else I could find. First: the headline, "Developer Michael Douglas bought property from named in TCI investigation." The first problem is that this article has generally nothing to do with Michael Douglas and it tricks readers by using a celebrity name gratuitously. Secondly, the headline makes no sense, he bought it from whom?


So I took it a step further and read the next couple of lines, "Dr. Cem Kinay has emerged as one of the central figures in the massive inquiry into political corruption in TCI [Turks and Caicos Islands]." I looked this up for accuracy. The corruption charges were against Turks and Caicos' former Premier, not Dr. Cem Kinay. Dr. Cem Kinay is a developer from Turkey who pioneered the all-inclusive vacation concept and brought his vision to Turks and Caicos. Research revealed that Cem Kinay is not "the central figure" of the investigation, he was dragged into the inquiry for his purchase of land under the former government, which he did under their laws. Furthermore, his land purchase was approved by the attorney general. I did not check into the land purchases of the other developers, but this was the case with Cem Kinay. By all accounts, it appears that Dr. Kinay has an impeccable track record as a developer, philanthropist and physician.

Then, as previously referenced, there's the claim that the corruption investigation, "led to the British assuming control of the Caribbean archipelago." This is patently false and flawed and there can be no way to explain this mistake or falsehood.

Then I read the next couple of sentences, "Mr. Douglas and his wife Catherine Zeta-Jones bought the first luxury property at Dr. Kinay's unfinished $62-million Dellis Cay development before the alarm was raised about the islands' finances." I checked on this as well, and in fact the development is doing well and Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones are still very much happy holders of real estate on the island of Dellis Cay in Turks and Caicos, lest the author of the article insinuate a post purchase "alarm" that led to a pull out of the deal. Furthermore, it is unclear how this reporter came up with "$62-million" as the cost of the project. My research revealed that his $62 million quote is very dated and far apart from the actual cost, $500 million US dollars.

Of course, I had to keep going. I read the next couple of lines, "former Turks and Caicos Premier Michael Misick, who is also implicated in the financial irregularities." Michael Misick "also implicated" and "irregularities"? This is inaccurate and misleading at best. Michael Misick was the direct target of the investigation. A few of Misick's minsters were also investigated with Misick as the core target for corruption and not merely implicated for financial irregularities.

Then I read the next few lines and came across, "Dellis Cay is a 560-acre private island that Dr. Kinay hoped to develop." This statement also failed the accuracy test. This was proved to be a false and misleading statement by the writer's use of the word "hoped". My investigation revealed that the project is almost fully developed and is happily on target to open in mid-2010. It is not readily clear to me why the word "hoped" was used when the development is proven to be almost complete.

As far as the article is concerned, in my opinion it constitutes the worst form of innuendo with its use of inflammatory labels in willful disregard of the truth. It's a shame when journalists attempt to trade on innuendo to pursue an agenda or to lazily satisfy a deadline.

Sorry, still more. Then I read that an inquiry reported, "high probability of systemic corruption or other serious dishonesty by key politicians and businessmen in TCI." I took notice of the "high probability" which in fact the inquiry report concluded affirmative corruption by Michael Misick and certain members of his cabinet, not probably but conclusively. Then the author of the article lumps-in businessmen on the island with the sentence about corruption, that was worth looking into. The "businessmen" who were purportedly questioned by the inquiry were all from Europe, not Turks and Caicos. They were there to invest in the islands and develop vacation properties. There were no laws that were broken by these businessmen, at least the one who I investigated, Dr. Kinay. Reportedly, all transactions were legally entered into under the authority of the government. Therefore, this reporting bordered offensive to me because it was an unsubstantiated and uncorroborated claim that crossed a line of persuading public opinion. Furthermore, my research revealed that a judge went out of his way to order the businessmens' names removed from the inquiry report, namely Dr. Kinay.

As far as news is concerned, it is made more complicated when writers allow personal feelings and emotions to influence their news writing. Due to many personal factors, we can’t help but to be influenced in our thinking. Our different upbringings, cultural backgrounds, religion, ethical and moral education, and perhaps traumatic events in our lives may influence our judgment of facts. All of these factors can also play a roll in how we perceive events. This reminds me of a matter that occurred this year in California, wherein a main stream reporter wrote about a legal case unaware that the legal action involved a second main stream reporter. The next week, the offended second reporter wrote a completely false report in an attempt for revenge against the first reporter. The second reporter was caught red-handed. This was embarrassing to all news agencies and calls credibility into question, which is at the very heart of integrity.

But in this case, how does one reconcile subjective interpretation of events with statements that are patently false?

According to thefreedictionary.com, to be “objective” means: “Uninfluenced by emotions or personal prejudices” (or) “Based on observable phenomena; presented factually”.


To be “subjective” is: “Proceeding from or taking place in a person's mind rather than the external world” (or) “Particular to a given person; personal”.

When we deal with objectivity, we also have to look at the concepts of truth, fairness, balance and accuracy. These fundamental principles in the world of reporting can never stand apart from each other. When we allow our work to be subjective, biased and inaccurate then we damage not only our own credibility, but can also mislead and influence the views of whole nations, promote hatred between groups and even fuel hostility or destruction of one person's future or reputation.

Once a reporter gathers facts, it is his/her duty to report the facts in context ensuring fairness and accuracy. It cannot stand apart from fairness. The test of fairness is giving all facts involved an equal opportunity to stand alone, as I demonstrated above. There was probably not one statement that could stand alone in the article as fact in context.

Adding to the recipe of destruction, is specific media agency policies, its political alignments and objectives. It's difficult to discern agendas in reporting. When I watch MSNBC or Fox News, I am still shocked by the lack of objectivity and freedom of facts. Innuendo of other's characters is disguised as reporting. It is probably a good thing that most news watchers are savvy enough to distinguish MSNBC and Fox from real news. But is the public at large aware of violations of integrity in reporting?

“Justice is conscience, not a personal conscience but the conscience of the whole of humanity. Those who clearly recognize the voice of their own conscience usually recognize also the voice of justice” - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Russian Author.

Definitions: http://www.thefreedictionary.com

Other Reference to Truth, Fairness, Accuracy and Balance:

http://www.midoceannews.bm/siftology.midoceannews/Article/article.jsp?articleId=7d983cb30080006§ionId=60


http://www.articlesbase.com/education-articles/the-truth-about-idea-who-is-deborah-blair-porter-1012167.html
http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/3648823-the-media-objective-fair-accurate-balanced-reporting-israelgaza-case-study

TCI Journal and Shaun Malcolm of Turks and Caicos revealed

TCI Journal vs Dellis Cay as editor revealed
Published on Tuesday, July 28, 2009

On Monday, July 27, the “editors of the TCI Journal” posted an extensive article documenting what they claim are unfounded attacks on the weblog by Dr Cem Kinay, the developer of Dellis Cay.

Kinay was successful in his initial application to the TCI Supreme Court to have references to himself and the Dellis Cay development redacted from the Final Report of the Commission of Inquiry. However, due to an apparent oversight, it was found that the report in its redacted format could be restored to its original unredacted form by computer users with the knowledge to do so.

The TCI Journal article goes back and forth between the claims of Dr Kinay and the TCI Journal personnel and there appears to be some confusion as to the true identity of writers and editors of the TCI Journal. What the Journal describes as “the necessary anonymity of some of the Journal’s contributors” has been a point which has drawn attention to the publication in recent months. It is unclear why the editors and contributors to this particular website, with a few exceptions, believe they need to maintain anonymity and they have yet to explain their reasons.

The website ostensibly promotes openness while at the same time keeping the identities of the editors and contributors secret. In a very recent article posted by one of the original and few publicly revealed contributors Shaun Malcolm, he supports transparency. Another frequent contributor, Richard Berke, who is mentioned in the article, is an American who reports he has been visiting the islands since the mid to late 1980s. Currently, he has been visiting while he has been having a home constructed. Berke claims he is a contractor from California. Berke has claimed on a number of occasions that threats, including death threats, have been forwarded to him via cell phone text messages. Contributor “Diana de Gara” has been reported by Berke to be a fictitious name and at this time her true identity has never been revealed to the public. It is unknown if she is a TCI national or expatriate. Shaun Malcolm has been associated with the TCI Journal since it first appeared online briefly in December 2007.

Malcolm has been referred to by many of his acquaintances as a political opportunist. He has been active in both political parties and has openly criticised both, with current overtures reportedly being made by him to the British authorities. Malcolm has also claimed he has received threats via text messages. For the first time, however, a Gurchuran Singh has been identified by the website. Sources within the TCI have long reported that, in fact, Singh is the singular motivating force behind the Journal and that he has made representations to this effect to numerous persons of note in the TCI.

Numerous articles over the name “editors” or GS and other initials are usually attributed to him. Singh’s history is incomplete but the following information has been obtained from a variety of sources. Singh is now 49 or 50 years old and it appears that he was born in India but his family moved to Canada when he was young. His TCI history traced to date places him in Provo in the mid to late 1980s, where he was writing software. Later, he formed a company known as Norbellis to buy about 17 acres west of the Blue Horizon Resort on Middle Caicos, which was to be a computer lab or think tank business (non- profit).

Plans were drawn, TCI Invest and many others were stirred up by it but nothing came of it, as it appeared he had no funding. Unknown to anyone except the private seller, he did buy 7/10 acres consisting of two lots at Blue Horizon. These are currently in default on a large mortgage owed to Meridian Mortgage of Provo.

They are reportedly held by Singh in the name of a firm called Natures Way. In 1998, Singh founded a company known as IQ Ludorum in the UK to create gaming software to support in-house and online gambling enterprises. Initial success put the firm up to 80 employees with 50 percent of the market by May 2003. Reports relating to Singh and his company’s position as a key supplier facilitating gambling houses and online gambling have been posted over the years. After the company went public, when it appears Singh raised millions of dollars, the company went downhill. It appears that following a public offering Singh lost stock control and the company fell on hard times.

At one point, in an online article, the company was reported to have “blown it” as related to its chance to continue to hold a strong market share. The board of directors fired Singh in February 2005. The company is now know as Continuum Payment Solutions and, with Singh gone, has re-emerged as a software entity. It is unknown if Singh still has holdings in that firm. Singh reportedly resides in Miami with his wife, a TCI national.

Paradoxically, Malcolm, who is said to be very close to the gambling software developer Singh, was part of a pastors’ parade in Provo in 2007 when the church leaders were protesting the expansion of local casinos to allow locals to legally engage in gambling. Observers of the parade claim that at one point Malcolm took over a poster and led the protest parade.